To the person ticked off at speeding police officers: Quit complaining about police officers speeding while on duty. Not every call is an emergency requiring lights and sirens. The public demands that no matter what they call them for, that the police show up in seconds. Plus incidents turn into emergencies quickly. So how do you think that they get there? Taking their time and going 35 mph with traffic? Let them do their jobs, please. I'm ticked off at the trash pickup people. I set out cardboard boxes, broken down and bundled just like they requested, and the trash people grab it instead of leaving for the recycling pickup truck.

LEESBURG -- The Leesburg City Commission Monday approved a recommendation by their city staff that they restructure their trash-pickup program and ask the county commission to take over maintenance of their closed landfill. The staff analysis was included in the city commission's consent agenda. It called for the city to change how it does trash pickup -- switching from one day a week for garbage pickup and one day a week for trash pickup to two days a week for mixed trash and garbage pickup.

A reminder of war's losses While enjoying my Sunday Sentinel, I noticed the small news item at the bottom of page A7 about the young Army staff sergeant from Texas who died in Afghanistan following an attack with an improvised explosive device on his unit. It reminded me, once again, how detached I have been from this absurd, no-win, ongoing conflict. More important, it forced me to think of the grief and sadness these deaths and injuries have caused so many military families over the past 10 years.

EUSTIS -- City commissioners gave preliminary approval to twice-a-week garbage pickup in the city last week. A second vote is required before the added service takes effect. Eustis currently collects trash once a week, except during summer months. If given final approval, the twice-a-week service would cost residents an additional $1.86 a month. The new bill would be $16.60 a month.

Osceola County is reviewing what the zones should be for trash pickup in the unincorporated areas. It is the first step in seeking new bids from haulers. The county last established garbage-collection zones about five years ago. The review will be done in time to get bids from haulers before the current contracts expire Sept. 30.

THE CITIZENS of Shockley Hill, Shockley Heights, Leisure Haven and The Meadows - all small communities north of Altoona - need to sue Lake County commissioners because we do not have mandatory trash pickup.I'm behind Tavares, Eustis and Leesburg officials who are considering suing the county. I think we in the outlying communities should have mandatory pickup.Yes, there are still some rural residents who burn their garbage, thus polluting and smelling up the environment. Others litter the highways and dump garbage in our forests.

Homeowners on the city's west side who are upset with trash pickup on Saturdays will not have to put up with it much longer.The City Council decided at a special meeting Monday to change collection days for Districts 1 and 2 back to what they had been for about 30 years: Tuesdays and Fridays. The switch will start the first Tuesday in July.Council member Ron Borgon has heard dozens of complaints since the council moved trash pickup days to Wednesday and Saturday six weeks ago. Residents apparently did not like having to wake up early on Saturday to drag garbage to the curb.

City council members Tuesday decided to keep semiweekly garbage collection for the city. The council also voted to refrain from setting prices for compacted trash pickup.After several businesses complained that twice-weekly garbage collection is unnecessary, the council asked representatives from DisposAll if once-a- week collection were possible. Edgewood has a contract with the company for garbage pickup.DisposAll representative Charles Wilson said semiweekly collection is required under a city ordinance, but the council could approve special exceptions if necessary.

LEESBURG -- Mayor Chet Blackmon wants to talk about the pros and cons of turning over the city-run garbage removal and street-sweeping service to a private contractor. Privatized garbage removal is nothing new to Lake County cities, many of which passed off the service years ago. Eustis and Mount Dora are among those that did because officials thought it was more cost-effective and efficient. Tavares, Clermont and Mascotte are the only other Lake cities that provide their own garbage services.

Residents of Los Angeles' single-family homes have their trash picked up weekly by the city's Bureau of Sanitation, but the vast majority of L.A.'s garbage is produced by multifamily residences and businesses, and their waste is collected and dumped by private contractors. State and city laws govern recycling, dumping and emissions and help to balance legitimate environmental and labor concerns against the efficiencies of the marketplace. Now the City Council is set to consider two different plans to impose franchise agreements on these private haulers, and there is some merit to a plan for non-exclusive franchise agreements, which would require haulers to meet city rules and get what amounts to city licenses while still competing for customers.

BROWARD COUNTY EDUCATION: All Broward County public schools will be open Tuesday. Updates are at browardschools.com Archdiocese of Miami Catholic schools in Broward will be open Tuesday. Operations will resume Tuesday at Nova Southeastern University 's Main Campus in Davie , including the Sherman Library, the Mailman Segal Center for Human Development, the University School (pre K-12 college preparatory day school), all NSU clinics in Miami-Dade and Broward, Student Educational Centers in Kendall (Miami)

It is sure to raise hackles in some leafy quarters of Sacramento, but for the greater good the City Council needs to proceed tonight with scrapping the costly and confusing garbage collection system. The plan that council members are to vote on would revamp residential services starting on July 1, 2013: -- Recycling collection would go from every week to every two weeks, saving the city more than $1 million a year. -- All residents would get yard waste containers for pickup every week.

The Town of Babylon has awarded a new residential garbage contract to a subsidiary of a Bay Shore refuse company. The town board approved a 10-year contract with Jody Enterprises of Babylon Inc., at a special meeting on Friday. The company is a subsidiary of Jody Enterprises Inc., a residential garbage hauler for 33,000 homes in Islip, Smithtown, Brookhaven and Huntington. The 7-year-old company is owned by Giustino Gallone, an Italian immigrant who started as a garbage collector.

The City of Winter Park will offer residents a bonus trash pickup day for bulky items this month, the city has announced. People who live north of Fairbanks/Aloma avenues can place items such as old furniture and broken appliances on the curb for their assigned pickup day during the week of May 7. Residents who live south of Fairbanks/Aloma avenues can do the same for their assigned pickup day during the week of May 14. Hazardous waste, yard...

At long last, curbside recycling is coming for residents of unincorporated Osceola County. On Monday, county commissioners voted to extend the county's agreement with Waste Management Inc. of Florida for residential trash pickup. Under the new deal, which takes effect July 30, unincorporated Osceola will have a weekly pickup for recyclables. The agreement with Waste Management runs through Sept. 30, 2018. Residents of the cities of St. Cloud and Kissimmee already have recycling pickup.

School purchasing agent Don Miller is up to his knees in paperwork trying to figure out how much the district stands to be reimbursed from a trash pickup company.Miller said he is negotiating with Dump All Inc. of Orlando to see how much money the school system can recoup for being charged for several years of year-round trash pickup service although schools were in session for only 10 months a year.''It could be a considerable sum of money,'' Miller said Wednesday.The reimbursement stems from fees charged for garbage collection at schools within Kissimmee city limits.

City officials have decided to continue picking up garbage from homes in Mount Dora once a week, rather than switching to twice weekly pickup as had been considered.The decision was made after residents decided overwhelmingly in a survey that they wanted to continue with once-a-week trash pickup, City Manager Dale Cunningham said Wednesday.Cunningham said more than 1,000 ballots, sent out to residents with their previous utility bills, were returned to the city.The ballots offered residents the option of continuing the current once-a-week garbage pickup for $15.89 per month, or switching to twice-a-week service and paying $1.20 more.

Residents of unincorporated Lake County, The Villages, Lady Lake, Eustis and Mount Dora will have no trash collection or commercial container service on Dec. 25. Collection services will resume on the next regularly scheduled service day. Garbage: Tuesday, Dec. 29 Recycling: Friday, Jan. 8 Vegetation: Friday, Jan. 8 Eustis city residents will have Friday's recycling and vegetation service on Saturday, Dec. 26.